The final stage of the Atkins diet plan is lifelong maintenance. This is the time to continue your new meal plan at a maintenance level and stay at your goal weight. The habits you have formed will now become a permanent way of life. During the third phase, pre-maintenance, you learned exactly how many grams of carbohydrates your body can handle and still maintain your ideal weight. In this phase, you will put this approach into practice and learn to live with your ideal carb count daily.
During lifetime maintenance, you will continue to expand your food choices and eat more grams of carbohydrates than before. Depending on your specific metabolic needs, you may eat some of the foods you enjoyed before starting your weight loss program. If you choose to eat these foods, they must be moderate and used sparingly.
Keeping your daily carb count around your ideal carb count is the easiest way to maintain weight loss. Your weight may fluctuate by two or three kilos from time to time, but this is completely normal. This weight fluctuation is caused by hormonal changes in your body.
During maintenance, you will also learn how to overcome your previous bad habits. Losing and maintaining weight means dealing with real-world situations. You will develop strategies for coping with stress, emotions, and holiday eating. You will also develop plans for catering solutions in restaurants. The challenges during the maintenance phase are many, but they can be overcome.
It's all about preparation. When you've followed the Atkins diet plan for a long time, you've learned exactly how many grams of carbs you can handle. You also learned which foods trigger carbohydrate cravings and which foods lead to overeating. Throughout your OWL and pre-maintenance phases, you have developed coping strategies that you will need to use in lifetime maintenance.
To set yourself up for lifelong maintenance, make a promise to yourself that you will never return to your previous weight. Take the pledge by donating all your "fat" clothes. That way, if you start to gain more than five pounds, you'll know to buckle down and eat better. Also, write down in a journal or list all the benefits of the new, slimmer size. Write how you feel better and how healthy you are. This will fix your new way of life in your mind and your heart.
Choose a lifetime maintenance weight target range. This is the weight range that is acceptable to you. For example, if your initial goal was to lose 165 pounds, your lifetime weight maintenance goal will be 160 to 170 pounds. If your weight starts creeping up to 170 pounds, then you know you're being too indulgent with your carbs. Never allow your weight to change more than 3 to 5 pounds in either direction.
Commit to weighing yourself at least once a week. This weekly weigh-in will give you a good idea of how you are doing in your maintenance program. Use this weekly weight as a guide for your approach to eating for the following week.
Be sure to continue your exercise program in addition to these guidelines. Your metabolism is completely dependent on the amount of exercise you get. The commitment to exercise goes hand in hand with the commitment to continue eating right.
By following these guidelines, you can simplify and facilitate lifelong maintenance.
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